TSP ejection chains Original Research Article

We identify ejection chain methods for the traveling salesman problem based on a special reference structure for generating constructions related to alternating paths. Computational tests show that the method performs very effectively, obtaining generally better solutions than improved versions of the Lin-Kernighan method within the same time frame. Our approach, which currently has a simple tabu search guidance component at a local level, also has the potential to be combined in more advanced ways with metaheuristics such as genetic algorithms, simulated annealing and tabu search.